1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device for regulating the cooking process in a cooking vessel which is heated by a heating element provided with a control circuit. The temperature in or at the cooking vessel is registered and is utilized by the control circuit to regulate the heating element. The cooking time is preset by an adjustable timer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Devices of this type are known in which the timer is electrically and mechanically separate from the control circuit of the heating element and is set by hand. After the preset cooking time has elapsed, an optical and/or an acoustic signal is emitted by the timer indicating the end of the preset period of time for cooking. The control circuit and the heating element are then turned off manually.
In these prior devices, the cooking time is a predetermined period and makes no allowance for the time constant of the cooking system as a whole. Depending on the size of the cooking vessel, the heat output of the heating element and the contents of the cooking vessel, the cooking system as a whole undergoes various heating and cooling time periods during the heating and cooling phases, respectively, which are reflected by different slopes of the temperature-time curve for the cooking system. No allowance is made in the prior art devices for the differences in heating and cooling periods during the heating and cooling phases of the cooking system. However, this particular property of the cooking system affects the cooking time which is regulated by the preset time, and it may either be too short or too long. In the heating phase, represented by the upward slope of the temperature-time curve, the preset cooking period starts before the cooking temperature is reached, and this leads to a shortening of the preset cooking time. During the cooling phase, after the heating element has been turned off, the cooking system remains at the cooking temperature for some period of time so that the actual cooking time exceeds the previously set time.